Answer for an Atheist
Vitaminbook, atheist and regular commenter on this blog, at asks the following question at his own blog:
9942 Apophis is a near-Earth asteroid with a small chance of hitting our planet on April 13, 2036. . . . Should the asteroid hit us, it would explode with many times more force than whatever caused the famous Tunguska Event, with potential casualties running into the millions. . . . As a Christian or other believer in some sort of God, what’s your reaction? Do you assume that God wants this to happen for some reason? Or do you believe that God would save us at the last minute rather than letting Apophis (ironically named after an ancient Egyptian god) destroy a sizeable portion of his creation?
How do you reconcile the possibility of sudden destruction from space with a Universe supposedly made for us by God?
I don’t reconcile it. I don’t have to reconcile it, because the earth and all of the heavens are made for his glory alone (Ps 19:1; Is 66:1; Col 1:16), not mine. Should this event happen, and this asteroid collides with the earth, I will take comfort in knowing that this is for God’s purpose, for he foreordained all things that come to pass (Is 14:24).
The universe was not made for us. It was made for God, for his own glorification.
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Posted on June 19, 2008, in Apologetics. Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments.
Josiah Concept Ministries 
VB really thinks that is an earth shaking question (no pun intended).
What you wrote was pretty much my first thought after I read that entry…scary, isn’t it?
Like any other natural disaster, it’s the result of living in a fallen world. From splinters to tsunamis, and even to earth-shattering collisions with Apophis the asteroid, it’s all the result of sin and the breaking of the originally-created order.
That reply is…slightly worrying. Should I take it that all other natural disasters were also caused by God for his own glorification? (And what about man-made disasters?)
VB-
Yes, in God’s Providence, natural disasters are used for God’s glory. God is sovereign over all things…including men’s wicked activities.
God’s Word says God is in control over everything…He’s not biting His fingernails wondering what we’re going to do or what disaster may occur…He has decreed everything from eternity. Even the hairs on your head.
Consider the Old Testament prophecied the Messiah’s arrival, betrayal by one of His own, His being rejected by His people, and His murder and ressurrection…yet look what His Word says about who is at fault for Christ’s murder:
Acts 2:22-24
22″Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth,a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, **you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men**. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
Psalm 33:11
But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.
Doesn’t that imply predestination?
VB
Romans 9:11-13
11Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: 12not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”[a] 13Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
Eph 1:11
11In him we were also chosen,having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will…
Yes, God’s sovereignty must include predestination.